Shopping cart extender

ABSTRACT

An expandable rectangular platform, comprises a central panel to which two side panels are pivotally attached on either side by at least one pair of panel hinges. The platform can be expanded, with the side panels extended, so as to extend over the sides of the cart basket, in which extended configuration it can serve a load-bearing function. When the platform is not in use, the side panels are pivoted under the central panel, and their lengthwise sides are secured together by one or more panel connectors.

FIELD OF INVENTION

The present invention relates to the general field of shopping cartaccessories, and more particularly to accessories for expanding thecarrying capacity of shopping carts.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Shopping carts are in wide use at virtually all consumer retail stores,such as grocery, liquor and home improvement stores. Such shopping cartstypically have an upper basket, in which fragile and delicate items areoften placed. Placing heavy and bulky items, such as large bags of petfood or water softener, on top of smaller items in the cart basket oftenposes a problem for shoppers. Therefore, it's advantageous to provide afoldable platform, which can be extended to cover the top of the cartbasket so as to support heavy and bulky items, and which can be foldedup so as to fit within the cart basket when not in use.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

As shown in FIG. 1, the present invention is an expandable rectangularplatform, comprising a central panel to which two side panels arepivotally attached on either side by at least one pair of panel hinges.The platform can be expanded, with the side panels extended, so as toextend over the sides of the cart basket, as depicted in FIG. 1, inwhich extended configuration it can serve its load-bearing function.When the platform is not in use, the side panels are pivoted under thecentral panel, as shown in FIG. 4, and their lengthwise outer sides aresecured together by one or more panel connectors, which can beconventional hook-and-loop fasteners or conjugate male-female mechanicalfasteners, such as hook-and-post, latches, clasps, snaps or catches.

The central panel is dimensioned to fit inside the cart basket when notin use. The side panels conform in length to the central panel but havehalf its width, so that when the side panels are folded under thecentral panel, the rectangular dimensions are those of the central panelalone, thus allowing the entire folded platform to be stowed inside thecart basket.

As best seen in FIG. 5, the two widthwise outer sides of the side panelsform longitudinal channels, which slidably enclose a stud extending fromand supporting a spring-loaded clamp (best seen in FIG. 7), by which theplatform can be secured to the top of the cart basket.

Preferably, the panel hinges connecting the side panels to the centralpanel are spring-loaded and lockable, as illustrated in FIGS. 6A and 6B,so that the hinge springs are under tension when the platform is foldedup, and when released the hinge springs extend the side panels, as shownin FIGS. 2 and 3.

The panels of the platform are preferably made of a rigid, light-weightmaterial, such as a plastic-covered wire mesh. The panels are capable ofbearing weights up to 50 pounds without significant bending ordeflection.

The foregoing summarizes the general design features of the presentinvention. In the following sections, specific embodiments of thepresent invention will be described in some detail. These specificembodiments are intended to demonstrate the feasibility of implementingthe present invention in accordance with the general design featuresdiscussed above. Therefore, the detailed descriptions of theseembodiments are offered for illustrative and exemplary purposes only,and they are not intended to limit the scope either of the foregoingsummary description or of the claims which follow.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of one exemplary embodiment of the presentinvention in its extended configuration connected to the top of ashopping cart basket;

FIG. 2 is an obverse side plan view of the embodiment of the presentinvention in its extended configuration;

FIG. 3 is a reverse side plan view of the embodiment of the presentinvention in its extended configuration;

FIG. 4 is a reverse side plan view of the embodiment of the presentinvention in its folded configuration;

FIG. 5 is a side profile view of the embodiment of the present inventionin its extended configuration;

FIGS. 6A and 6B are side profile view of an exemplary panel hinge in theextended and folded configurations, respectively; and

FIG. 7 is a side profile view of an exemplary spring-loaded clamp withits stud slidably enclosed within the longitudinal channel of one of theside panels.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Referring to FIGS. 1-3, the exemplary embodiment of the presentinvention is an expandable platform 10 comprising a rectangular centralpanel 11 and two rectangular side panels 12, pivotally attached toeither side of the central panel 11 by two pairs of panel hinges 13.When the expandable platform 10 is in use, the side panels 12 extendoutward from either side of the central panel 11 in the extendedconfiguration 15 depicted in FIGS. 1-3. In the extended configuration15, the expandable platform 10 is securable to the top of a shoppingcart basket 14, as seen in FIG. 1, with the side panels 12 extendingover the sides of the basket 14. For purposes of orientation, thedimensions of the central and side panels 11 12 and the cart basket 14referred to as “length” and “width,” herein and in the claims, arelabelled as “L” and “W” respectively, in FIG. 1. The central panel 11has a width less than the width of the cart basket 14, and the centralpanel 11 has a length less than the length of the basket 14. The twoside panels 12 each have a length equal to the length of the centralpanel 11, and they each have a width equal to half the width of thecentral panel 11.

The two side panels 12 each have a length-wise inner side 17, alongwhich it is hingeably attached to the central panel 11, and they eachhave a length-wise outer side 18, on which they each have a panelconnector 19. The side panels 12 are folded under the central panel 11when the expandable platform 10 is not in use, so as to put the platform10 in the folded configuration 16, as depicted in FIG. 4. In the foldedconfiguration 16, the lengthwise outer sides 18 of the side panels 12engage one another and are secured together by the panel connector 19,which is here illustrated as a hook-and-post type fastener. When in thefolded configuration 16, the platform 10 can be readily stowed withinthe cart basket 14.

Each of the side panels 12 has two widthwise outer sides 20, each ofwhich forms a longitudinal channel 22, as seen in FIG. 5. Thelongitudinal channel 22 encloses a clamp stud 23, shown in FIG. 7, whichis slidable along the length of the channel 22, and which is connectedby a stem 24 to a spring-loaded clamp 21. The clamps 21 provides themeans by which the platform 10, in its extended configuration 15, issecured to the top of the cart basket 14. The position of the clamps 21along the widthwise outer sides 20 of the side panels 12 is slidablyadjustable, thereby allowing the clamps 21 to be aligned with variouswidths of different shopping carts.

As depicted in FIGS. 6A and 6B, the panel hinges 13 are preferablyspring-loaded hinges 25, comprising a hinge pivot 26 and a hinge spring27. FIG. 6A shows the hinge 25 in an open position, corresponding to theextended configuration 15 of the platform 10, while FIG. 6B shows it ina closed position, corresponding to the folded configuration 16 of theplatform 10. The hinge 25 has a locking tab 28 which conjugately mateswith a tab socket 29 to retain the hinge 25 in the closed position.

Although the preferred embodiment of the present invention has beendisclosed for illustrative purposes, those skilled in the art willappreciate that many additions, modifications and substitutions arepossible, without departing from the scope and spirit of the presentinvention as defined by the accompanying claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. An expandable platform for carrying items on atop of a basket of a shopping cart, comprising: a rectangular centralpanel, having a top surface and a bottom surface, and having a widthless than a width of the basket, and having a length less than a lengthof the basket; two generally rectangular side panels, wherein each sidepanel has a length equal to the length of the central panel, and whereineach side panel has a width equal to one-half the width of the centralpanel, and wherein the side panels and the central panel have a combinedwidth that is greater than the width of the basket; wherein the sidepanels are lengthwise pivotally attached by at least one pair of panelhinges to opposite sides of the main panel, so as to form the expandableplatform; wherein each of the side panels has a lengthwise outer side,which is opposite to a lengthwise inner side by which the side panel ishingeably attached to the main panel; wherein the side panels arepivotally foldable against the bottom surface of the main panel, so thatthe lengthwise outer sides of the side panels engage one another and aresecurable together by one or more panel connectors, and so as to put theexpandable platform in a folded configuration, in which the expandableplatform is storable within the basket of the shopping cart; wherein theside panels are pivotally extendable so to be co-planar with the centralpanel and so as to put the expandable platform in an extendedconfiguration; and wherein each of the side panels has two widthwiseouter sides, which are perpendicular to the lengthwise outer side, andwherein each of the widthwise outer sides forms a longitudinal channel,and wherein each longitudinal channel slidably encloses at least oneclamp stud, and wherein each of the clamp studs has a stem by which theclamp stud supports a spring-loaded clamp, by which the expandableplatform is securable to the top of the basket of the shopping cart, andwherein a position of each of the spring-loaded clamps along thewidthwise outer side of the side panel is adjustable to conform to thewidth of the basket of the shopping cart.
 2. The expandable platformaccording to claim 1, wherein the pairs of panel hinges compriselocking, spring-loaded hinges.
 3. The expandable platform according toclaim 1, wherein the panel connectors are conjugate male-femalemechanical fasteners, latches, clasps, snaps or catches, or arehook-and-loop fasteners.
 4. The expandable platform according to claim2, wherein the panel connectors are conjugate male-female mechanicalfasteners, latches, clasps, snaps or catches, or are hook-and-loopfasteners.